On the 6th day of our trip, we left Taichung and headed off to Taipei for the next leg of our trip. Before we made our way to the HSR, our driver recommended this really yummy fen yuan in Taichung and I have to agree that it’s the best I have ever eaten so far! smile

東東芋圓 is located on a small street leading to Xinshe, we had to park across the street and do a takeaway. I was so stoked that they had taro paste, which was a great addition to the dessert!

We were very much looking forward to what Taipei had in store for us when our first impression of the city was ruined. We flagged a cab the moment we arrived at Taipei HSR station. As our hotel is just a 5-10 mins drive away, the grumpy driver started lashing out at us and nagged throughout the whole trip. He then purposely stopped his cab across the street and told us to take out our luggages from the car boot ourselves else he would charge us NT$20 for it. We were so annoyed and we told him that he can jolly well keep his 20 bucks. This was a far cry from the friendly residents in Taichung and we were pretty shocked about it, even until today. sad

Hotel Papa Whale is probably one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed at. Even though it looks fancy at the lobby area, the room was so tiny that we felt claustrophobic. I couldn’t sleep during all the 5 nights we were there. sad There was a group of Koreans staying on the same level as us and they couldn’t stop talking even until 2am or 3am. The rooms were so badly sound proofed that I could even hear them using their plastic bags or packing their luggages. We complained to the concierge at least 2-3 times but it wasn’t of much help as it repeats on a daily basis. A real torture for light sleepers like myself. angry

As you can see, our trip to Taipei started on a bad note but of course, it doesn’t affect the rest of our trip! smile

We took a quick stroll to Ximending and had some light bites and drinks at this awesome pub. Sadly, we couldn’t find it when we wanted to visit it again.